Adidas revenues surge 14% as CEO’s long game pays off
Adidas has delivered a strong financial performance for the first half of 2025, with double-digit growth across all categories, signalling that CEO Bjørn Gulden’s reset strategy is beginning to bear long-term fruit. However, it warned of Trump's tariff impact moving forward.
The German sportswear giant reported a 12% increase in currency-neutral sales in Q2 and an even stronger 14% jump for H1, despite global headwinds and the absence of Yeezy revenues that had previously buoyed top-line growth.
Rather than leaning into hype drops, as it did with Yeezy, Adidas focused on brand strength, improved product cycles and operational discipline. Net sales reached €6 billion (£5.2 billion) in Q2, while net income from continuing operations rose 77% to €375 million (£324 million). Operating profit surged 58% to €546 million (£472 million).
CEO Gulden said he is "proud" of the team’s delivery, but framed the results as just the next milestone in a broader journey to rebuild Adidas as a consistent, global performance brand. "We have continuously grown double digits," he said, emphasising that the growth was "clean" - led by full-price sell-throughs, lower discounting and longer lifecycles for franchises like the Samba and Adizero.
That strategy appears to be working. Footwear revenue grew 9%, with notable wins in running and basketball, while apparel posted a 17% lift driven by renewed energy in Training, Running and Golf. The running category, historically tied to Nike, stood out with over 25% growth, supported by products like the Adios Pro Evo 2 and Boston 13.
Performance sales were up 12% in Q2, while lifestyle categories also grew 13% on the back of terrace style revivals, including the ever-resilient Samba. Yet, even here, Adidas is pushing design boundaries with launches like Pharrell’s Adistar Jellyfish and the Taekwondo Mei ballerina silhouette, blending archival inspiration with contemporary cues.
Geographically, North America returned to growth with a 15% lift, Greater China grew 11% and every other market delivered double-digit gains except Europe, which reported 7% growth.
Despite a positive financial report, there are still challenges. The phasing out of Yeezy leaves a €650 million (562 million) gap compared to last year, and the impact of newly implemented US tariffs could amount to €200 million (£173 million) for the remainder of 2025. Still, Gulden is sticking to the full-year guidance of €1.7-1.8 billion (£1.52-1.56 billion) in operating profit, which would represent a major recovery from 2023’s reset year.
Gulden said: "The year has started great for us and normally we would now be very bullish in our outlook for the full year. We feel the volatility and uncertainty in the world does not make this prudent. We still do not know what the final tariffs in the US will be...
"We will as always manage through this volatile environment and all the uncertainties as good as we can but always with the objective of strengthening the adidas brand and our company mid- and long-term. That is what adidas deserves"
Gulden is playing a long game, focused on disciplined brand building and scalable, sustainable growth. If the first half of 2025 is any indication, that strategy is working and Adidas may be entering its most stable era in a decade.
